


When Things Weren’t Going at the Speed of Light

by Bell_Spatio



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Hera and Pryce get a moment of understanding, Hurt/Comfort, I think they have a sibling dynamic, Just a series of soft concepts, Let David and Rachel be kind of friends, Marcus Cutter could have been an artist, Maybe some more later on because I think things, Perseus has a bit of angst but it’s still soft, Rachel gets a break, Yeah I’m gay what about it, for like five minutes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:48:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29124438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bell_Spatio/pseuds/Bell_Spatio
Summary: Just... a collection of soft moments during the lives of the Wolf 359 cast. Because things aren’t always blood and betrayal and even the worst people can be kind.
Relationships: Alana Maxwell & Perseus, Hera & Miranda Pryce, Miranda Pryce/Rachel Young, Rachel Young & David Clarke
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4





	1. The Calm Before the Storm (Miranda Pryce and Hera)

Hera in her lab, awake but listening and quiet for the first time in... her entire existence. She’s always been recorded as moody and loud and argumentative but today she’s just... listening. Because Dr Pryce got bored today, and so gentle piano music floats through the halls and in through the smallest crack in the laboratory door and into Hera’s speakers. So for the first time, she goes silent, and lets her team of... honestly very confused researchers do their jobs in peace.

~~~~

The researchers never actually figured out why she was so calm. The music was far too quiet for their human ears to pick up, and of course 2- /Hera/ would never admit to appreciating anything Dr Pryce had made. But just once, during an especially boring debugging cycle, Dr Pryce catches Hera humming a familiar tune, and that’s the first time anyone has seen her surprised. The first time she called Hera “she”. Of course, she quickly acted frustrated and shut off Hera’s vocal systems, and the poor bastards that had tried to bring up the slip we’re swiftly... taken care of. But she didn’t delete the memory from Hera, and neither of them can figure out why.


	2. Saturn (Marcus Cutter, or Matthew Newman)

A young Matthew Newman sitting on his roof, sketching designs for his company logo that isn’t yet his, the moonlight reflecting off of far too ambitious eyes for his age when he should be asleep. But it’s midnight, and the sky is clear, and he can just see Saturn as he pulls out a set of watercolours and changes to a new page of his journal. Of course, he would regret staying up to paint in the morning when he leaves for school but... who is he to deny a clear night?


	3. Movie Night with Perseus (Alana Maxwell)

Dr Maxwell sits in the silent laboratory and taps at a keyboard, desperately trying to get the code back in order. To get /him/ back in order. 

“Perseus... please. I know you can do this. I promise you, this is- this /will be/ fine... just try? Please...”

She silently scolds herself for being attached already. She’s practically begging a damaged line of code to cooperate, it’s doomed to fail. Then there’s a series of glitches and the speakers come back to life. She grins so brightly up to the nearest camera, so proud of her... what? Son? Friend? She doesn’t know. It isn’t important. 

“D- Dr Maxwell?”

“Yes! Yes, Perseus, perfect! Are you alright? Where’s the problem?”

He starts listening off where the faults are, helping her along with her work. And then, when things are stable, she sits back with a sigh. 

“So... how about that movie? Do you think you can last a couple of hours?”

“I- I think I c-can do that, this time.”

“Good... relax, I’ll keep an eye on things. I think you’ll like this one.”

She turns to face the biggest screen in the room, and so she puts on a musical. Perseus always liked those. The drama and the fantasy and the serenity of the music always helped keep glitches subtle enough to enjoy the whole film. They did it every week. Every Saturday, she comes down with a movie and a grin, and they gossip about the newest researchers as she sets up. She doesn’t know why, but it’s the best part of her week, and Perseus’ emotional processors seem to feel the same.


	4. Coffee Break (Rachel Young)

She shouldn’t be here. Marcus is on a business trip and Mi- /Dr Pryce/ went too. All things considered, with her left to run the company she’s the highest ranking employee on site. But she /really/ shouldn’t be sitting in Marcus’ chair, feet on his desk as she sips her mocha. Not a chai, not that damned taste of cinnamon that he practically forces her to drink every day. A mocha. It’s sweet and home and it reminds her of everything she left behind, and it makes her lean back with a satisfied sigh as she admires where she is. 

This is hers. In a week, it will be his again but for now it is hers and she /will/ appreciate that. She’s worked hard for this, and she deserves a moment of peace.

She closes her eyes and holds the hot drink in both hands to warm them as she listens to the sounds around her. A mechanical clock, some gentle rain against the wall of glass windows that look out to the gardens, a giggle outside from some gossiping employee, and... the god damn phone ringing. The moment is over, she sighs, sits up and picks up the phone on the second ring, putting on her most sickly sweet voice.

“Mr Cutter, sir! How was the meeting?”


	5. Like Damn Siblings (David Clarke and Rachel Young)

It’s been a very long few years since that damned trip to LA. Rachel has had her promotions to Special Projects, he’s been moved to Engineering, and though they are both technically directors and equals, it’s still complete chaos between them. 

Sometimes, when Rachel has the nerve to wear a tie, David will pass her and reach over and tug it, hard. Hard enough that the first time made her face plant the floor. He almost looked guilty at that one, but years of working under Mr Cutter had helped him train his expression into vague entertainment no matter the situation. Other times, Rachel will poison his coffee, just enough that he wonders if this time will actually kill him. It doesn’t. Of course it doesn’t. Mr Cutter would be furious, and... Rachel claims she has her reasons to keep him alive. 

It isn’t that either of them have gone soft. Rachel Young and David Clarke are still the fierce employees that they have always been. But something did change. Perhaps a mutual understanding. Perhaps they learnt to tolerate each other. But it changed. And they are both very much ignoring that change. 

Honestly, no one can quite tell what their relationship is, least of all themselves. Most interactions consist of glares and playful bullying that the average person may call attempted murder. But sometimes... just once a month, maybe, Rachel will come to his office unannounced with a latte, no poison this time, perch herself on his desk, and just start... complaining. About work, about relationships, about Mr Cutter, which he pretends to simply not hear, just anything bothering her. He knows too much anyway, and who would he tell? She knows he can keep a secret, and... some part of her trusts him, for some reason. 

So, once a month, David Clarke sits at his desk and sips his latte, which he notes just seems better than anything the other employees make, she never admits how, and listens. And Rachel Young complains, and jokes, and laughs quietly when he lets himself the privilege of a disapproving scowl. Then she leaves, and he goes back to work and they both make a silent pact to pretend these meetings never happen. 

Because they don’t care about each other. They can’t. No matter what, this company is no place for attachments. And the one time David ran into a fire to save Rachel is no one’s business. The scars they both have are the only things that dare bring that event up. They don’t care, and they never will. But maybe they can one day allow themselves to admit to some... vague respect.


	6. Remains (Miranda Pryce/Rachel Young)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tw// mention of fire, burn scars, fire trauma, technically Rachel is topless in this but I don’t think it counts as nsfw because it’s only vaguely mentioned.

“There was a fire, people died...”

She’s only told that story twice. Once, to Marcus, faced with a knife sharp grin that felt like a hundred threats as he asked for the whole story. And then again, as Miranda traces her finger over an uncomfortably bumpy scar across her back as they lay in bed on the Sunday morning she had begged Miranda to take off. Golden sun pours over them through the big windows and she relaxes under the touch, humming appreciatively as Miranda slowly starts to massage her back.

The scars wouldn’t fade much more than they had, she knew that, years of ignoring them and refusing to pay enough attention to treat them properly had made sure of it. But at least with Miranda’s attention they didn’t feel as heavy. As ugly. The woman was a genius, she could fix anything. She would likely replace the damaged skin if Rachel had asked. But she wouldn’t. Miranda appreciated them, for some unknown reason, and she adored her for that. Perhaps it was another reminder that she was still human and imperfect. Perhaps... any number of reasons. It doesn’t matter, they had both silently agreed to keep that reason a mystery. Just... one mystery to ignore the burden of knowing far too much. 

So she lays there, and watches the sun rise as she feels slightly rough hands work at her back, and she tells the story. Of the cause, of the attempt at saving her attachments, friends, she’d once called them. She tells Miranda with a shaky voice about the fire itself, of how she still feels it sometimes and how she would never forget that burn. Then, she quickly turns to face her, with a small smile as she reassures her that she wouldn’t have it any other way. Because that is what got her here, with her, on a lazy Sunday morning with satin sheets on bare skin as the sky turns blue behind her and a halo of sunlight around Rachel’s head makes Miranda wonder if to be human is really so boring.


	7. The Tempest (Victor Riemann)

Mr Riemann, or Victor, to everyone that seems to speak at him instead of to him, hums quietly as he cleans his gun. Working under directly Mr Cutter has its perks. For one, you get to look down on all the poor bastards that just work in SI or worse, the actual legal departments. But, more importantly, according to Mr Cutter, you get a private show every so often. When missions are going a certain way, Mr Cutter always seems to have a piano on board, because of course he does, and even if Mr Riemann rarely knows what he’s playing, he can still appreciate the serenity of each song. Of course, he wouldn’t be caught dead /humming/. He isn’t an idiot. But between missions, in the quiet of his office, he lets himself that moment of peace while he gets ready for the next job.


End file.
